Day 5 - No Reservations Required

Day 5 was another fun-filled travel day. We had to get from Louisville to Memphis, which was about 320 miles, or about 6 hours of driving. Nashville is right in the middle, so we figured we would stop there for lunch and do some short sight-seeing then head off to Memphis.

We left Louisville around 11, and somewhere along the way we moved into Central Time, so we gained an hour on the day. We got to Nashville around 2, and had already determined, thanks to Roadfood, where we would eat. We chose a place known for its hamburgers and excellent side dishes of vegetables. Debbie was very excited to get off the meat bandwagon for at least one meal and have a meal of 3-4 different vegetables. One problem, on Saturdays they only start serving the veggies at 5 pm. So, back to the meat she went. Brian chose the chicken terriaki sandwich, I went with the (previously discussed) "When In Rome" theory and stuck to the cheeseburger, Debbie went with the bunless hamburger and Amanda went with, wait for it, a cheeseburger.

Turns out this little hole in the wall was right on the Vanderbilt campus, so after lunch we quickly drove around the campus before heading downtown (or what I think was downtown) to sight see. It was here that we came across the first nominee for the Palace of the Popes Award - the Country Music Hall of Fame. For those of you not familiar with this prestigious award, I will give a very brief history. In 1980 my family took a trip to France, and one of the stops was Avignon, home of the popes for a time when they were banished from the Vatican. As we started the tour, they slammed the doors behind us shut (kind of like Alcatraz) and began the tour - in French. The tour guide seemed to be giving a very in depth description of something (not even my French-fluent mother was sure), when we realized we needed to get out of there, as we understood the tour to be quite lengthy. We then made like the Von Trapp family (without the musical ability) and snuck out through some amphitheater to the streets of Avignon. Henceforth, any sightseeing event that turns out lousy is a nominee for the Palace of the Popes Award.

With kids aged 13, 10 and 6 who like to listen to today's music, I wasn't sure the Country Music Hall of Fame would be that exciting to them, but it was music and we were in Nashville. However, they charged $75 for us to get in, and frankly, it was mostly boring. The top two floors are museum floors, and the bottom floor is where the actual Hall of Fame is located. It's a little like the baseball Hall of Fame, with plaques on the wall. Problem was, they were setting up that room for a wedding reception, so we had to run through it very quickly. We saw some plaques and left.

We left just in time, as the skies opened on our car shortly after leaving Nashville - no doubt as punishment for not enjoying the Country Music Hall of Fame and for skipping the Grand Ole Opry.

We got to Memphis around 7:45, and once again had consulted the handy Roadfood book (and cross referenced it with the guide book) for a great rib place. Being that this restaurant was in both books, and since it was a Saturday night, Debbie asked me if I thought we needed to make a reservation. I obviously had no idea, so I said to call, but we decided to wing it.

It's too bad she didn't make the call, because the person on the other end of the phone might have fallen off his/her chair laughing. We pulled up to the Cozy Corner Restaurant, and saw all of two other cars in the parking lot. The exterior looked like it hadn't been updated since the end of the Civil War. When you walk in, Shirley from "What's Happening" was behind the counter taking orders. After perusing the extensive menu choices of Chicken, 2 Ribs, 4 Ribs, 6 Ribs or 2 Ribs & 2 Wings, we placed our orders and she asked what we wanted to drink. When my question of "do you have bottled water?" was met with look of almost scorn and "no we don't have bottled water" I asked if she minded if we brought our own from the car. She said OK. We sat down at the bingo parlor tables and waited for our meals.

Shirley's husband (just a guess) brought our food, and I must say it was very good. The ribs were outstanding, and the sides of corn, cole slaw (actually on the side this time), beans and BBQ spaghetti, were all excellent.

Debbie and I were a little perplexed by the gentleman sitting behind us though. He was wearing a yarmulke while eating his pork ribs and sporting a Jewish themed tattoo. This was wrong on just so many levels so I just have to leave it alone.

After going through about a 225 napkins, we finished our meals and headed to the hotel, where we did some work and laundry to get ready for the day in Memphis.

By the way, I don't know what the weather is like at home, but here in Tennessee it's Africa hot. At 7:30 pm it was 95 degrees. Tomorrow doesn't look any cooler, so I hope they have bottled water where we are heading.